Family Matters
by Seol-ah
Summary: It's always unsettling to meet your boyfriend's family for the first time. However, the moment Kagome sits down with her half-demon's boyfriend unconventional family, she thinks she might have bit off a bit more than she can chew.


Disclaimer: I do not own _Inuyasha_ , unfortunately.

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 **Family Matters**

 _Chapter 1: The Proposal_

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She looks up from her ravioli to gawk at the man sitting across from her. He doesn't look back at her; he only continues eating from his plate of fettuccine. She continues to stare at him, waiting for an explanation of some sort but she doesn't get one. The soothing instrumental music playing from the live band is doing nothing to calm her nerves; in fact, she suddenly has the urge to pull her own arm off just so she can have something to throw at them so they would shut the hell up. Kagome puts down her fork and glances around the ridiculously fancy—and overpriced—Italian restaurant to see how close by the other tables are. After all, she is about to completely lose her shit and she doesn't want people listening in on their conversation.

"Are you _fucking_ serious?!" She grits out between her teeth, leaning forward slightly so he can hear her hushed voice. Although, she really doesn't need to. Her half-demon boyfriend has extremely enhanced hearing. Said boyfriend wipes his mouth with his napkin and gripes at her for not finishing her dinner. Kagome purses her lips, this certainly isn't how she expected their date night to go. "Why, though?" She asks, returning to her plate but only succeeding in pushing the cheese-stuffed little pasta squares around with her fork.

"What do you mean, 'why'?" He half laughs, his golden eyes twinkling with amusement and she has to fight to ignore the spark his gaze ignites in her belly. They'll have plenty of time for that later. "What's the big deal?" He reaches across the table and in a rare moment of publicly displayed affection, he holds her hand gently in his larger one, running his thumb softly across her knuckles. The faint tinge of pink across his cheeks doesn't go unnoticed and, again, Kagome must force herself to ignore how adorable he is.

"Because we've only been dating for five months!" The moment those words leave her lips, she feels silly. Inuyasha laughs, but then turns to a passing by waiter to ask for a takeout box to pack up the remainder of Kagome's dinner when it becomes obvious she has lost her appetite. Kagome sits back in her chair, glancing down at her hands in her lap and suddenly concentrating on the feeling of butterflies in her stomach. It is a sad thought for her to admit, but all of her past relationships had never made it this far. Of course, she's dated people for much longer. It wasn't until after those relationships ended that she realized _she_ is the one with the commitment issues. To others, five months is plenty. Five months is an adequate, if not lengthy, amount of time. For Kagome, on the other hand… the thought makes her stomach churn.

With Inuyasha, though… He is like no one she's ever met.

He is unusually chipper this evening. His normally gruff demeanour is nowhere to be seen. Inuyasha doesn't really like dining in public, because he says it takes too much effort. While demons and humans have cohabited for centuries now, humans were still unsettled by the idea of sitting in a restaurant with one of their non-human counterparts. Going out for date night meant Inuyasha would have to bear the stares and whispers about his extraordinary hair colour (although, they don't use the word extraordinary; Kagome does) and shining bright eyes.

So, when he suggested that they eat out tonight she was surprised. When he said he had something important to ask her, she was partly afraid he was going to ask her to marry him. That would have been troublesome, since five months is nowhere near enough time to be considering marriage—even if she does hopelessly adore the half-demon with the hilariously endearing puppy ears he adorns on top of his perfect little head.

Kagome can tell it takes everything possible for Inuyasha to keep from grumbling about the noise, the gawks and stares, and paying insane prices for the tiny-sized portions—the damn refills aren't even free! She softens a little, realizing the amount of effort that has gone into this night. Instead of his usual comfortable attire, he sits across from her in well-fitting dress pants and a fitted white dress shirt, all free of creases. His tie is knotted loosely around his neck, the brilliant red reminded her of the first time she discovered it is his favourite colour. Kagome knows he hates wearing these things outside of work. He must have agonized over how to ask her for this and, in an effort to ease the shock it would inevitably bring, he dressed up and made sure she had a good time. She had been wanting to come to this place for months.

"I suppose it wouldn't be so bad," she mumbles as the waiter returns with a small styrofoam box and a plastic bag. He also sets down the bill and smiles politely at the two of them, telling them he hopes they had a good meal. Kagome smiles back, but it's because she knows that the second they get home Inuyasha will be tearing open a package of ramen. (All those carbs in his diet and he still manages to maintain those washboard abs… not that she is complaining about those.) The waiter walks away and Inuyasha puts down the cash before she can even reach for her purse. She makes a comment about her getting the bill next time, but he grumbles something under his breath that sounds suspiciously like, "Not in a million years." Kagome rolls her eyes.

"Are you sure?" He asks, and for the first time this evening Kagome sees the nervous hesitance in his eyes. Instantly, a pang of guilt hits her right in the ribs. This request, this milestone in their relationship, for anyone else, might have been considered as a matter of course. However, for Kagome, for her Inuyasha, it is a sign of ultimate devotion.

A demon wanting to bring a human to his demon family, to tell them he loves her, to tell them she's important enough to meet—it is the single most romantic thing anyone has ever wanted from her.

They both get up from the table and he picks up his jacket that is hanging off his chair and drapes it around her shoulders. Despite the stares she receives from her fellow humans, she leans up on her toes and plants a kiss on his mouth. She rocks back onto her feet and gives him a brilliant smile. "Yes. I would love to meet your family."

Inuyasha gives her smile, which she would construe as a sign of happiness—partly erroneously, unfortunately, as it is a smile of mixed happiness and sheer terror. However, as the promise is made, all doubts are gone out the window as they practically skip out the doors in anticipation of the bedroom activities that usually follow date night. Inuyasha would speed back to his apartment and proceed to fumble with her bra through the material of her dress the second they got inside. They probably wouldn't even make it to the bedroom.

Kagome's box of leftovers lay forgotten on their table back in the restaurant.

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Stay tuned for the next chapter, "The Night Before"!


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